Stirring the Pot, Blowing It Over

“He’s got to be the angriest man on the planet earth,” said Roger Green, talking this afternoon about Charles Barron. “He must wake up in the morning and just start taking swings at anybody.”

According to Green — who placed third, after Barron, in a primary against incumbent Congressman Ed Towns — he was prepared to drop out of the race before he saw Barron make comments about him on The Politicker.

“Had he not made that statement, Charles would probably have been elected a Congressman,” said Green.

“There had been a resolution and it blew up,” he continued. “It was done as done could be done. All I had to do was communicate with people that made commitments to my campaign. I told him that.”

Green travelled out to Chicago the weekend before Labor Day to attend a convention for the Nation of Islam and met Muhammad Ali.

“I went out to Chicago and spoke to Muhammad Ali to secure an endorsement in addition to other things I’m working on and one of Ali’s associates asked me if I would really drop out. I said I probably hadn’t raised enough money to stay in the race. He asked if the councilman was a hot-head and I said yes, but maybe we need some
heat in Congress to stir the pot. And he said, ‘Well, is it stirring the pot or will he blow the pot over?’ And I thought about that.”

Green said that the conversation did not dissuade him from endorsing Barron, but after he returned and saw what the councilman said, it confirmed his fears.

“To hold public office, you have to diplomatic, you have to be willing to talk, you have hold your fire, you can’t shoot at everything. You can’t shoot at everything! Folks said to me it was a sign.